


Pride before the fall

by Drago



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Ian is stupid, M/M, Mickey is a grump, Nothing new here, Pride, Trevor is a dick, the plot is so thin, whatever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 17:06:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16268624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drago/pseuds/Drago
Summary: Ian's neighbor puts up a rainbow flag, and Ian misunderstands the meaning behind it.(or: Ian is in a relationship with Trevor, but he really, really wants to bang their neighbor.)





	Pride before the fall

**Author's Note:**

> Believe it or not, I started writing this thing in June. What can I say, life happened.

Because of his neighbor, Ian almost regrets buying his first apartment. He is twenty eight, and he bought the apartment half a year ago. He was going to buy it with his boyfriend, Trevor, but Lip advised him against it. For once, he listened to his older brother, because Lip is, in the end, the genius of their family, and even if his relationship advice suck, anything money-related is usually on point.  
Ian has been with Trevor for over a year now, and he loves his boyfriend, but maybe it really is a little too early to buy a house together. Trevor, when he heard about it, made a scene in a restaurant and then ignored him for two weeks. But they managed to work things out. So Ian is living in his brand new apartment with his boyfriend, and everything should be perfect but isn’t, because one of his neighbors is driving him crazy.  
Mickey Milkovich is grumpy, rude and very Southside. Ian also comes from the Southside, but he likes to think that he left it behind, while Mickey makes no effort to hide where he comes from. Ian is afraid to ask how the older man managed to buy the flat in this side of Chicago – not that Mickey would answer, he hardly ever says anything, mostly grunts and insults everyone who crosses him.   
The real problem is that Mickey is insanely hot. Trevor is cute, but every time Ian sees the older man he wants to pin him against the nearest flat surface and fuck his ass raw. He knows it’s just sexual attraction, but he also knows that Trevor would never understand. It shouldn’t even matter, because Mickey seems to be a dangerous person, someone Ian wouldn’t associate himself with anymore.  
Except one day he comes back home and sees a rainbow flag in Mickey’s window. Now, being LGBTQ-friendly doesn’t necessarily mean someone is a good person, but it definitely means that said someone is not homophobic. Which Ian suspected Mickey might be. Apparently not.   
He doesn’t want to think too much about it, but as far as he knows no one else in their building is gay, so Mickey has to be showing his support for Ian’s relationship with Trevor. Which is unexpected, but touching at the same time.  
He doesn’t really plan on saying anything, but then he almost literally runs into his neighbor (sweaty from the gym and sexy as fuck), and he just blurts out: “Thank you for being supportive!”  
Mickey stares at him for a good minute before grunting, “Supportive of what?”  
“My relationship with Trevor!”  
“How the fuck am I supportive of that?”  
“The flag? The rainbow flag?” Ian starts to regret saying anything, maybe the older man doesn’t know the meaning behind the flag. It’s quite possible. Not that he looks like someone whose favorite color is rainbow, but maybe it is.  
“Oh, that. My sister put it up to be a bitch,” Mickey shrugs, his eyes don’t really meet Ian’s, when he adds, “and it’s for me anyway.”  
“For… you?”  
“Yeah, ‘cause I’m a fag.”  
Ian’s first instinct is to scold the other man, but it doesn’t seem appropriate now that he knows that Mickey is _gay_. Mickey doesn’t wait for his reply anyway, quickly turning around to go to his flat. He opens the door, but then he turns towards Ian and says,  
“Besides, I’m not supporting your ‘relationship’ with that manipulative dick.”  
He leaves Ian wondering what the fuck is that supposed to mean.

Ian becomes obsessed with the idea of fucking Mickey, now that he knows the other man is gay. It’s all he can think about, at work, at home, when Trevor is fucking him.   
That. That’s the problem.  
Trevor doesn’t like to bottom, so he doesn’t do it. Ian also doesn’t like it, but he powers through it because… He doesn’t even know, Trevor says it’s a compromise, but the more he thinks about it, the less fair it seems. But he agreed to it. In the end, it was his choice, so he can’t blame Trevor.   
He can blame himself for being obsessed with Mickey. His brain keeps coming up with the excuses to approach the older man again, and it finally settles on discovering why Mickey doesn’t seem too enthusiastic about Ian’s relationship with Trevor. Which shouldn’t even matter, and it’s really hard to pretend, even to himself, that it does.  
He ends up cornering Mickey after a long, and frankly speaking quite gruesome shift. He is tense, so maybe he is a bit too aggressive, but the other man doesn’t seem scared. If anything, he seems more interested in Ian than he’s ever been before.  
“You said you don’t support my relationship with Trevor, why the fuck not?”  
“What does it matter? We ain’t friends, we ain’t nothing, what do you care?”  
“Just tell me,” Ian growls, because there is no explanation. At the moment, he cares more about the way Mickey smells, than what he thinks about anything.  
“Okay, Carrot top. I think your boyfriend is a small, manipulative prick, and you let him walk all over you because he is trans.”  
“That’s offensive!”  
“Yeah? You know what else is offensive? The way he starts crying every time he doesn’t want to do something or he wants _you_ to do something for him. The whole fucking building knows about it, even fucking Carla from the fourth floor pities you, and that old hag thinks that fags are Satan’s spawn.”  
“How..?”  
“Do you not realize how fucking loud he is when he wants to be? It’s like a fucking radio no one wants to listen to but has no choice.”  
That’s not something Ian has ever thought about, usually he is more concerned with getting Trevor to stop, which might prove Mickey’s point.   
“Say you are right. What about me then, why do you all think I’m a victim here.”  
“’A victim’, are you always so fucking dramatic?” the older man scoffs, but then he looks down, avoiding Ian’s eyes. “You seem like an okay dude. Dunno man, everyone seems to agree.”  
Ian is baffled, apparently everyone in the building seems to think he is in some sort of an abusive relationship, and Mickey doesn’t hate him. Which is more than he could ever hope for.  
“Trevor is not abusing me,” Ian finally says. “He is a good guy.”  
“They always are,” the other man says under his breath. “None of my business anyway. Do whatever the fuck you want. You want to always tiptoe around him, then do it. I don’t care.”  
When Mickey shoulders past him, he almost sends Ian into a wall, but instead of being offended, Ian finds himself aroused like a hormonal teenager.   
And the next time he fights with Trevor, which is the next morning, Mickey’s words keep repeating in his head. He still doesn’t think that his boyfriend is being abusive, but he has to agree that maybe their relationship isn’t as good as Ian wants to pretend it is. And maybe it’s been going on for a while.

Trevor is smart. Either that, or Ian is exceptionally bad at pretending he doesn’t want to fuck Mickey until the other man cries for more, because their next fight is about their grumpy neighbor. It starts with something ridiculous and, in Ian’s eyes, irrelevant, but things quickly get out of control, and he really hopes that Carla from the _fourth_ fucking floor can’t hear them this time.  
“I have no idea what you see in this asshole, but go ahead and fuck him, if that’s what you want. Fuck him out of your system,” Trevor spits out at one point, and the world comes to a halt, or at least that’s how it feels to Ian.  
“What? No!”  
“You are an open book, Ian, you act like you want to hump his leg every time you see him. I really can’t stand it anymore, just fuck him and be done with it.”  
“Wait, you aren’t joking,” Ian is stunned. Trevor is a very jealous person, every time he thinks that Ian is ogling another guy he throws a hissy fit, but this time he sounds like he doesn’t even care.  
“Nope. It’s better if you do it now, before you get so sexually frustrated that you fool yourself into thinking you are in love with the guy.”  
Oh. Trevor is so sure that Mickey is an unlovable asshole, that he it doesn’t even occur to him to be jealous. Which is fair, Ian thought… thinks the same. It’s about Mickey’s ass, his thick thighs and strong arms, not about his personality. Still, Trevor can be cunning when he wants to be, so Ian isn’t sure if he should take his boyfriend seriously.  
He decides against doing anything about Mickey, but few days later he spots Trevor talking to the dark haired man in front of their flat. Ian should have known better, his boyfriend always does what he wants, whether Ian agrees with it or not. Judging from the incredulous look Mickey shoots him when Ian gets closer, Trevor told him about his little plan. Although he doubts that Trevor used the same exact words as during their fight.  
His boyfriend looks really pleased with himself when he leaves them alone, and Ian’s never felt the urge to hit Trevor before, but now he is seriously considering going inside to…  
“Your guy is fucking crazy. He wants me to fuck you.”  
“I think he wants it to be the other way round,” Ian says with the cockiness he really doesn’t feel. Instead of being angry, Mickey’s lips twitch as if he is trying not to smile.  
“Wanna hang out at my place? You look like you don’t wanna be anywhere near your lover boy.”  
Ian doesn’t analyze Mickey’s sudden friendliness too deeply. He just assumes it’s because his neighbor dislikes Trevor and rolls with it. Sometimes things can be simple.  
Mickey is simple. Crude and simple, and pretty damn fun to be around. Completely different than Ian’s… or rather, Trevor’s friends. Suddenly, the Southside side of him isn’t that bad. Because the older man reminds him of home in a good way, reminds him of the things he actually misses, even though Southside is a shithole through and through. He is sure Southside was as bad, if not worse, for Mickey as it was for him, but there is always some light in the darkness.  
They end up fucking. It’s inevitable, really. Ian spends exactly zero time thinking about Trevor while they watch the game and talk about just about anything. Whether Mickey knows it or not, he is oozing sensuality while talking about fucking chips, and Ian is willing to spread his legs to get fucked. But it turns out to be unnecessary, because Mick is more than happy to bend over the couch with Ian’s tongue between his perfectly firm buttocks.  
Ian doesn’t think about Trevor even once. How could he, when Mickey moans wantonly, while he works his tight ass up and down Ian’s long, thick cock, acting like he’s been born to do this, like he doesn’t want anything else in life. Ian wishes he could come inside the other man, but he settles for screwing into him as hard and deep as he can, making sure to leave an impression. He hopes for a repeat performance, they aren’t even done yet, but he already knows that one time isn’t going to be enough, that he won’t be able to fuck Mick out of his system. It would be easier, but Ian doesn’t know easy.  
Later, he licks the sweat off Mickey’s pale skin and cleans his stomach with his tongue, feeling better than he has felt in a while. He feels alive again, Mick makes him feel alive.  
Trevor smirks at him when he goes back to their flat. The older man didn’t leave any marks, but Ian knows he looks and smells like he’s been thoroughly fucked. He wonders if Trevor can tell that he had more fun than they usually do together. Probably not, he wouldn’t be smiling then. He would be furious, even though he was then one who made Ian do this.

Ian doesn’t wait for Mickey to approach him. He is pretty sure his neighbor wouldn’t do it, if only to be difficult and make him sweat. Ian is fine with that, his day was horrible, Trevor is not home, and he doesn’t want to think. So he goes to Mickey’s and kisses him the second the door opens. There is nothing gentle about the kiss, Ian bites his lips until Mickey lets his tongue inside, and then proceeds to dominate the smaller man, enjoying the way their bodies mold together perfectly.  
He knows he should leave after they are done, but he ends up helping Mickey with dinner, they even manage to watch a movie before Ian is on his knees again to suck Mick’s perfect cock. He doesn’t get anything in return this time, suddenly it’s too late for that, but he doesn’t mind. _He doesn’t mind._ It should set off alarm bells, but Ian conveniently ignores them.  
He is a professional at falling out of love. It is, perhaps, his biggest flaw, the one that makes him hurt people. He doesn’t even realize it himself, one minute his heart is fluttering when he as much as catches a glimpse of his partner, the next there is nothing left behind. It leads to tears and accusations, and Ian hates this part of himself, but there isn’t anything he can do about it. That’s why he isn’t really surprised when he wakes up next to Trevor, who is already smiling at him softly, and thinks: ‘we’re done’.  
It takes him a while to deliver the news, because he is a coward. And because he is afraid of what Trevor might do. No, in reality, he is just a coward. He knows it’s going to be nasty, Trevor is probably going to cry, and the whole neighborhood is going to know that the ‘local gay couple’ finally broke up.  
It’s a lot of effort, honestly, and if it weren’t for Mickey, he probably wouldn’t do it. Then again, without Mickey he would still think he loves Trevor, and their relationship is picture perfect. Not that the older man wants anything from him. There are moments when Ian thinks he can see Mick’s baby blue eyes softening with something akin to affection, but he might be imagining things. There is a huge chance Mickey still doesn’t want to date him, but Ian is alright with that. He is willing to take a risk.   
At first, Trevor refuses to believe him, when he finally breaks the news.  
“It’s not funny, you dick,” he giggles, but stops when Ian doesn’t smile. Then, he turns furious. “Are you fucking serious right now? After everything I’ve done for you? Really? Without me, you’d still be living with your family, working as a cheap stripper. You are leaving me? Because of one, easy fuck?”  
“Twenty,” he mutters offhandedly because he doesn’t like the things Trevor is saying. The past should stay in the past.  
“Excuse me?”  
“I fucked him twenty times, if not more. I kept coming back for more. You let me, remember?”  
Trevor looks like he wants to hit him, and Ian really hopes it’s not going to happen. He doesn’t want their neighbors to call the police.  
“It’s because he is a ‘real man’, isn’t it? But he is the one getting it up the ass, so how much of a man can he really be?”  
“Is that what you think? Is that why you insisted on fucking me?!”  
“What do you think?” Trevor scoffs. Ian takes a deep breath and takes a step back, he might do something he regrets, if he lets Trevor’s words get to him. “Does he know why you are fucking him?”  
“What are you talking about?”  
Instead of answering, Trevor suddenly storms out of the flat, and Ian decides to follow him in case his ex decides to do something stupid. He does, banging on Mickey’s door loud enough to wake the dead.   
“...the fuck?” Mickey growls when he sees them, and for a second, Ian gets distracted by how good Mick looks half-asleep.   
“You know that Ian is fucking you only because you are easy, right? I wouldn’t let him fuck me, so he went for the cheapest option. He thinks you are dumb, he is toying with you. He will drop you the second someone better, _prettier_ comes round.”  
Mortified, Ian considers hiding in his flat, but Mickey doesn’t seem angry. He looks disgusted, but he isn’t even looking at Ian, completely focusing on Trevor, who is trying really hard to smile sweetly, like he is actually trying to do something good.  
“Like he dropped you, you mean?” Mickey is calm and collected, in stark contrast with Trevor’s shakiness. “If you think that you can come to my flat to start shit and insult me, then you’ve got another thing coming. You’re trying to hurt me, bitch? You have to try harder. Get your petty ass out of my sight before I give you the beating of your life.”  
There is something about Mickey, despite him being seemingly completely relaxed, that makes Trevor listen to him without arguing. Ian goes with him, he doesn’t particularly want to leave his ex alone in the flat. He is closing the door, when Mick’s voice reaches them again, “No wonder he broke up with you, if that’s how you see him, princess.”

The flat isn’t as empty as he expected it to be without Trevor’s things. Probably because he is prone to collecting random trinkets, and his sisters indulge him too much. It’s oddly quiet, though, so he decides to go to Mickey’s, if only to apologize.  
Mick hands him a beer and makes him sit on a couch while he makes mac and cheese. Comfort food, even though Ian doesn’t feel sad.  
“I don’t think you’re dumb. Trevor used to say that, and I just...”  
“I know, man. It’s alright, he was hurt, he said shit, I don’t care.”  
“I like you,” Ian blurts out, because talking to Mickey is easier than it should be. “I’m sorry, but it’s true.”  
“I don’t think anyone has ever liked me before,” the older man says, and Ian really doesn’t believe that. Mickey doesn’t say anything else about that, but he lets Ian stay the night, lets him fuck him until they’re too tired to shower, and it’s good enough. Maybe this time Ian isn’t going to rush things.


End file.
